USGA Heist May Be Related To Somerset Hills Theft; $5000 Reward Offered

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Eugene Paik in The Star-Ledger offers some new details on the Far Hills Heist, including the news of a whopping $5000 reward being offered. Pamela Mackenzie reports on the possible link to a Somerset Hills theft and says the reward is being offered by the county prosecutors. Call me crazy, but with the USGA holding $251 million in the bank and the U.S. Amateur trophy being one of their most important trophies, maybe this would be a good time to loosen up those purse strings?

From Paik's story:

The museum on Liberty Corner Road was closed Tuesday for a reception that allowed attendees to glimpse the new Mickey Wright Room, which is scheduled to open next month. Wright, the only player to have held four women’s major championship titles at the same time, had donated more than 200 artifacts.

The donation boosted what was already the world’s largest collection of golf memorabilia, with 42,000 artifacts, 14,000 books and a half-million photos.

According to the USGA, the Mickey Wright event lasted into the night.

About 2:30 a.m. today, an alarm brought police to the museum, Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano said.

Mark Lamport Stokes reports for Reuters and reminds us that the Hickok Belt isn't just a golf artifact.

The Hickok Belt, featuring a solid gold buckle encrusted with precious stones, was presented to the leading professional athlete of the year in the United States from 1950 until 1976.

Winners include boxers Rocky Marciano (1952) and Muhammad Ali (1974), baseball players Willie Mays (1954), Mickey Mantle (1956) and Sandy Koufax (1963 and 1965) and golfers Arnold Palmer (1960) and Lee Trevino (1971).